P.O.W.s and the War of 1812

In November 1812 Britain and the United States reach agreement on the treatment of prisoners captured during the war. Their agreement profoundly affects the lives of many thousands of soldiers, militiamen, sailors and privateers (citizens licensed to seize enemy merchant ships.) Neither side wishes the expense of confining or feeding enemy combatants so parole and exchange feature prominently in the arrangement. Citizen soldiers and sailors are treated differently from professional ones. Militiamen and privateers are released, to return to their homes and businesses if they promise not to fight in the war again. As this is an age of honour a man is expected to keep his word. Lists of those paroled are prepared. Sanctions for parole violaters are severe. The arrangement proves workable. The only problem for Upper Canada is that those not supportive of the war and unwilling to serve in the militia seek out American soldiers and voluntarily surrender, thus earning themselves an exemption from the conflict. Regular army soldiers and navy sailors are to be exchanged. Negotiations are conducted by appointed agents, like Francis Scott Key, and frequently take time. American prisoners of war, such as those from Detroit and Queenston Heights, are sent to prison ships off Quebec. These hulks are old, rotting and unseaworthy, but suit the purpose. The ships are cold and overcrowded. Men are fed less than in prosperous civilian life, but rations are not much different from those of soldiers in the field. In captivity boredom leads to gambling, and prisoners frequently lose the blankets and new clothes they are given. Winfield Scott and William Winder are both exchanged at Quebec and return to the war - Scott to lead his regiment at Chippawa and Lundy's Lane, and Winder to prepare the feeble defence of Washington in August 1814. If there is no timely exchange, prisoners are sent to Halifax to remain on prison ships or to go to the prison camp on Melville Island off Halifax. The camp is the model situation. Prisoners are permitted to occupy themselves making things like woolen mitts, leather goods and bone snuff boxes for sale on Sundays to town folk from Halifax, and to fish to supplement their diet. Of the eight thousand prisoners who pass through Melville Island during the war only 188 die of disease and are buried on nearby Deadman's Island (now a protected Heritage site.) Being in the camp is much safer than being in a typical American army encampment with its poor sanitation and disease. When the war begins the United States has no national prisons and so British prisoners of war are sent to state penitentiaries and poorly-built city jails where they are housed with murderers, thieves and rapists. Eventually, some captives go to a model camp, Pittsfield, thirty miles east of Albany. The prisoners are permitted to work for pay on local farms or in nearby factories in the hope that the men will like this new life and refuse parole when it is offered. The major problem with the exchange for the British is that the number captured by both sides is not equal. Estimates vary, but the British have three to six times as many prisoners. There are too many for Quebec and Halifax to accommodate. Thousands of American prisoners are sent across the ocean to Dartmoor Prison in southwest England. Dartmoor is a massive prison built between 1806 and 1809 to house French prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars. It sits on a barren mountain, surrounded by a treeless moor, frequently shrouded by mist and drizzle. Although prisoners suffer from damp and cold, and the camp is strictly managed, it is less crowded than other sites. Interestingly, there are 1200 free blacks in Dartmoor, those who have been captured while serving in the U.S. Navy and on American privateering ships. At the insistence of other American prisoners they have segregated quarters. As animosity grows during the war, the prisoner exchange systems begins to break down. In 1814 for example, American General Jacob Brown stalls the prisoner exchange and when he eventually releases the British soldiers, most are too ill to fight against him in his summer Niagara campaign. When the war ends in 1815 there are 6,000 Americans in Dartmoor, including those captured at Beaver Dams. Repatriation is a slow process. There is disagreement about whom will pay for the twenty-four ships required to return them to North America. A prison protest over delays leads to confrontation with guards. The confrontation is perceived as a riot and there are seventy casualties in what American newspapers term the "Dartmoor Massacre". Following this Britain agrees to split the cost of the return. The repatriation of American prisoners of war begins in May 1815 and continues until August. For these men the War of 1812 is finally over.

Redcoat 1812 in Niagara

On Monday, August 5, 2013 I will be doing a reading from my novel at the Niagara Historical Society and Museum at noon as part of the Heritage Festival. The NHSM is located at 43 Castlereagh St.in Niagara-on-the-Lake. If you are in the area stop by and say hello.

1813 in Upper Canada

The Encampment at Burlington Heights, the Battle of Stoney Creek, the Sinking of the Hamilton and Scourge, the"Burlington Races":  all of these events are detailed in the latest edition of the Hamilton Historical Board's magazine, historiCITY.  Have a look.  The City of Hamilton's official history magazine is available on line.  Go to www.hamiltonhistoricalboard.ca , Publications, historiCITY,
Special Edition #2, the Year 1813.

War of 1812 Toy Soldiers

Besides writing Redcoat 1812, as a hobby I collect toy soldiers that portray War of 1812 participants.  This year during the Battle of Stoney Creek Bicentennial re-enactment weekend the collection was on display in the Gage House at the Stoney Creek National Heritage Site.  My 54 mm
military miniatures come from nine different manufacturers: John Jenkins, Mulberry, King and Country, Britains, Queen Victoria's, Tradition, William Hocker, Lemans and Alexanders.